Bears vs. Broncos

I would just say the Bears lost. But if I tell you the whole story, maybe you'll get some chuckles. And I'll count on the fact that Steve doesn't read my blog.

So, it was the perfect day for a football game. Not a cloud in the sky. Temperature: around 50. We dropped Gavin off with a babysitter and headed down for the 2:05 kickoff at about 11. We got a great spot for tailgating, set up our chairs and our cooler, were surrounded by some Bears fans and we were having a great time. You might remember, this day was my birthday present to Steve. His birthday is on New Year's Day, and two years in a row I have taken him to see his Bears play for his gift. 

We headed in to the stadium and arrived at our seats just in time for kick-off. Our seats were perfect. At the top row of section 100, so we could stand as much as we wanted and not block anyone's view. Steve even said "I couldn't be more happy with the seats. 

The game was great. The Bears played well, despite "Baby Jesus," as Steve referred to Tebow. (If you've seen the movie "Talladega Nights" and follow sports at all and all the hype around the Broncos quarterback, Tim Tebow, you will find this funny, as I did). 

I made friends with the neighbors, we danced, we laughed, we had tons of fun. I was snapping pictures through the whole game to document so I could upload the blog this morning. 

At the 2 minute warning, the Broncos kicked an on-side kick to try to get control of the ball and catch up to us, with our 10-7 lead. They failed, we recovered the ball. Steve and I jumped up and down, high-fived, and he said, "let's go!" 

I told the Broncos neighbors "Good Game!" and we walked off to beat the crowd back to our car. As we were walking thru the stadium, Steve was yelling and high-fiving every Bears fan he could, and we heard some commotion from inside the field. People were stopped at the TVs, and Steve laughed at them and said, "Wow, they really think Tebow can score twice??" I looked at him and said "What are you talking about, they only need to score once, it's 10-7." 

The color drained from his face. He had "forgotten" the Broncos had scored a touchdown. So we walked over to one of the TVs in the stadium and watched as the Broncos hit a 59-yard field goal to tie the game and send us into overtime. 

We looked at each other, and I said "Follow me." I walked right into the stadium to the handicap seats at the 50-yard line. I walked right past the security guards and went to two available seats like I owned the place. (Great seats!!)

A little 7-year-old boy wearing a Tebow jersey looked up at me from his seat and stuck his tongue out at me in my Urlacher jersey. That's when I knew this wasn't going to be good. 

We won the toss but fumbled and it was the Broncos turn to try to score. Another long-shot field goal attempt and the game was over. We stood there in silence staring at the field. I looked back down at the boy and he was pumping his fists at me. 

That's when Steve said "This is the worst experience of my life." 

Our plans to go to a bar to celebrate were out the door. We were going home. 

On the way, as we ran down a hill instead of taking the stairs, our camera flew out of my pocket. I didn't notice until we were almost to our car. With all the Broncos fans heckling, it wasn't worth trying to go back and find it. (Luckily, it wasn't our brand new nice camera, but it was still a good little camera and I'm not happy about it.)

Maybe I should retire the idea of going to a Bears game for a gift for him. Because there's nothing like giving someone a gift and them referring to it as the worst experience of their life. 

A couple side notes:

-Mile High Stadium is bad luck for me. I'm not sure I'll ever want to go back. I've been there four times now for games. One time I passed out in the bathroom when I was 8 weeks pregnant, one time my brand new I-phone was stolen, and now I've lost my camera there. 

-This is the second camera we've lost this year. The first one was the camera we had in the hospital when I had Gavin so all of those pictures were on it. We took a plane trip and left it in the seat pocket in front of us. Luckily, I had already downloaded the pictures. But I was still upset because we were headed to Indiana to see all of Steve's family. 

-Some noteable quotes from the one and only Steve Linville: 

"Da Bears!" -about 10,000 times, every time we saw a Bears fan. 

"I'm 12-2 in this stadium! I dominate this stadium!" -as we walked out, before we realized it wasn't over yet.

"Oh no! We touched Baby Jesus! Better give us a penalty!" -after two penalties in the first period for late hits on Tebow. 

"Sweet doo-rag, d-bag!" -on our way out of the parking spot, to a fan wearing a Broncos handkerchief who was mocking us for being Bears fans. This was right in front of a cop, mind you. 

And, of course, "This was the worst experience of my life!"- he said that about 500 times all evening. 

Maybe next year we'll go to a ballet for his birthday.